Friday, October 11, 2013

This recipe video is inspired by a Lebanese yogurt cheese
spread called Labneh, but I decided to call it homemade cream cheese because my
sources deep inside Google tell me that “cream cheese” is searched for more
often than “labneh.” In fairness, and with apologies to my Lebanese fans, it really is
almost identical in texture and mouthfeel.

Like I say in the video, the taste is a bit bolder and
tangier than that stuff from Philly, but when is that ever a bad thing? Michele
found some amazing sheep’s milk yogurt at a local farmer’s market, and it was
incredible in this, but I've used regular yogurt and it works wonderfully as well.

You can use it as you would any commercial cream cheese, but
the honey and pistachio variation I tacked on to the end would make for a
memorable holiday brunch addition. On the savory side, you can’t beat simply
drizzling over some olive oil and eating as a spread with crispy bread or pita
chips.

Most recipes for this say you can eat it after one day, but
I really think the two-day “aging” and pressing process does great things. The
taste mellows out a bit, and the texture gets even denser and richer feeling. Besides,
if you don’t press it, you won’t get those signature, and ultra sexy
cheesecloth fabric marks! I hope you give this homemade cream cheese a try
soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about two heaping cups of cream cheese:

1 quart yogurt, try to get something really nice from a
dairy, or use Greek-style

1 tsp kosher salt or to taste

cheesecloth*If needed, use a paper towel to blot off any additional moisture that come to the top during the 2-day pressing in the fridge.

Note: I’ve only made this one way, so I’m not sure what
happens if you deviate from the recipe and use low-fat yogurt, etc. Let me know
if you try something different!

oh thats funny, i just posted about labane as well =) http://wrappedtroubles.blogspot.co.il/2013/10/how-to-make-and-preserve-labane.html israelis eat lots of labane. one question: why would it be more expensive? because you have to buy the yoghurt? what about making the yoghurt yourself? ;)

While I am aware of the answer to my question, I will ask anyway, at the stage you put through the salt, it should be possible to perhaps put through some spices, correct? Perhaps some paprika or maybe some fresh herbs as basil?

My mom has made this since i was little. We just called it yogurt cheese :-) We we lucky though, my dad worked for a dairy company, and we would get the outdated yogurt for free. And we always made it with low-fat yogurt, so yes it does work. Adding roasted New Mexico green chilis is my favorite.

Hi John. I tried this thing. It was kind of hard to do because i choose 2.5 % fat yoghurt and i used a sock :D Yes , sock. I didnt had a cloth but it worked very well. And the taste... Man. I have never made my own cheese but it is worth to try guys. That taste was amazing and i felt so happy for my self as you said in the video :D Thank you and goo luck.

-I didn't use string or a wooden spoon, I just wrapped the cheese cloth in a knot and stuck 2 chopsticks through the middle. It was a small elimination but made a big psychological difference ^_^

-If you're wondering what to do with the whey, it can be used to make ricotta.

-I didn't have a heavy marble stone like CJ...c'mon, who does? So I used a slightly larger bowl (whose base fit over the top of the cream cheese mould) filled with water. It was heavy and did the trick.

My Albanian friend makes her own yogurt (Me too! It's sooOOoooo easy!) and uses a cutting of fabric from her former slip (under her dress type) in place of cheese cloth. Before adding the salt, it is basically sour cream.

I am in the process of making some now using non-fat Greek yogurt. I am also going to mix in some green onions and chives before I "age" it. I plan on serving it with some hot pepper jelly I made a couple of weeks ago on whole wheat crackers. I'll let you know how it turns out, but it should be a killer combination.

As antipated, the non-fat, Greek yogurt version was fantastic. Greek yogurt already has much of the whey removed. Hanging for 24 hours really did not extract much more. I did find that I needed to put a shallow bowl under the mold. Pressing did extract additional whey which had no where to go but over the side.

I added Chives and Green Onions to the mixture before molding and used more salt than Chef John. I served mine with some hot fish pepper jelly I made a few weeks ago on some bruschetta toasts. The tanginess of the cheese, the bite of the onions and chives, the sweetness and heat of the jelly and the crunchiness of the toast was a fantastic combination.

See my blog at http://addingzip.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/homemade-cream-cheese/

I just watched your whole video with open mouth. Please never stop those little (sarcastic) remarks! Do you have a fanclub yet? ;) I might need to make one now. And yes, I won't be able to rest now until I've made this time-consuming and expensive cream cheese!

Hillbilly BeerSnob here aka TBG. I asked you on twitter about cheese cloth remember? Anyway, I've made homemade queso fresco but this by far is better when it comes to cheeses you just want to curl up with while watching some late night flix. I was going to take a pic but, I wanted to taste it first and before I knew it I ate the whole thing. Sorry. Anyway, this is among my top list of comfort foods out there. I can't wait to try it on some bagels or more Ritz crackers. Oh man, forget that! I bet those cheddar crackers you made could use some of this. IMO you can never have too much of cheese.

Stinkbait, I would just use a little less than a teaspoon, but it is not critical really, you can salt to taste. I prepared this and used probably less than 1/2 a teaspoon of kosher salt and it came out fine.

David Green If you cannot get cheesecloth I would not go for nylons, in fact I don't even really recommend cheesecloth! Go to your local fabric supply store and get some muslin, then form whatever shape you like and stitch it up! even a simple whip stitch will do, it doesn't need anything fancy.

I was paying 2.50$ for enough cheesecloth for this recipe, but I could easily pay just as much for some muslin and stitch it into a usable shape and it is washable and reusable!

Nylons and/or knee highs are surely to cost more, be less sanitary (no food safe production line for nylons and who knows what lubricants they use on the machinery, or what chemicals are left on the nylon after processing) so I would really suggest either seeking out muslin or any tight weave un-dyed food safe cloth really.

Chef Jon I have one humble improvement to this recipe I think can advance it quite a bit!

It is simple really, salt the yogurt before you start to strain it! I was withholding salt before, but in my latest (third) attempt I added a bit more salt, along the lines of what you listed in the recipe, but I added the salt to the yogurt in the beginning and stirred the yogurt really, really well.

When I did that and set it to strain it seemed that 3 days worth of whey came out at once, I think the salt draws the whey out of the curds. I really think you might be able to reduce this recipe to ~48 hours.

Either way, taking this recipe, adding chopped pistachios and honey on top is one of the most incredible experiences I have had. I did use "honey wheat" ritz crackers. The flavors that were involved were amazing, each bite took me on a journey of varying flavors, and it took a good 30-45 seconds to go through each round. It is one of those experiences you cannot describe, but wish everyone you know could....

Although I've never been much for cream cheese, I had to try this because it looked so fun and clever. Great results with the cheesecloth etc. and the women here are going mental over it.

I'm going to try it in paneer matar masala (green pea curry with cubes of white cheese - incidentally Vahchef relates that this particular masala was called "the romance of the housewife with green peas" by a famous Indian food writer)

BTW I've been meaning to mention this: Please suggest that people wear rubber gloves if they work with seriously hot chilis. If you get the TINIEST bit of such chili stuff on your finger, then touch your eyelid (or other delicate area such as a nostril) ever so slightly, extreme discomfort for many, many minutes is your reward. Of course I learned the hard way -- AFTER I'd been warned....

IF you could stop yourself from eating it, HOW would you recommend packaging it to give away to say a really good friend. Because who would not eat it first, unless it was someone special that you wanted to share it with. How would you wrap it up to give away?

Hi Chef! Thanks for a great video and recipe-I used the home made cream cheese in a cheesecake cup desert with gingersnap and butter crunch crust- it was amazing and a smash at my famille's thankulfullness thanksgiving party. THANK YOU! I am looking for something to do with the whey any thoughts? PS my friends at work loved your puff pastry cheese twists and asked for a recipe-they are auto mechanics-They loved the spiciness. Thanks again. Take care. -Kim

Just made a smetannik cake (Russian sour cream layered honey cake) and since I had a two kilogram tub of gippsland ( nice quality Australian ) yogurt, I put it in cheese cloth overnight, draining it down to about half volume, and when I was ready to assemble the cake, mixed some vanilla, and lemon zest into the labneh. Was a little stiff, so added tome sour cream (about a cup) whiich made it pliable, got the turn table from under my computer monitor, and on a piece of cardboard wrapped with aluminum foil started assembling the cake - smear of labneh, layer cake, labneh ... all the way to the top.the turn table and a 14 inch carving knife made up for not having a cake spatula.Put into the fridge for 24 hours allowed the filling to merge with the cake layers and when it was cut - it looked beautiful. And tasted even better.

I gew up eating labneh at home but we always salted it before dripping. The yogurt was hung in a cloth over the sink (tied to the neck of the faucet) and the next day we'd spread it in a dish, drizzle with olive oil, dip with warm pita bread and a dusting of zaatar. Cow's yogurt drips much faster than goat yogurt but the latter has a more flavourful tang. If I do use cow's yogurt, the Greek or Bulgarian varieties are best.

Love your version with honey and pistachios! I think it's also great sprinkled with pomegranate seeds.